Milch to Produce HBO Show on Racing

Horse owner and Hollywood producer David Milch has created a show titled “Luck” that will be shown on HBO, Variety reported Jan. 6.

The hour-long show will be directed by Michael Mann.

Milch wrote the pilot for the show and will be the executive producer. He previously had "John From Cincinnati" and "Deadwood" on HBO. Preliminary plans are for production to begin this spring, probably at Santa Anita.

"The pilot is about a bunch of intersecting lives in the world of horse racing," Milch told Variety. "It's a subject which has engaged and some might say has compelled me for 50 years. I've joked that if I just can make $25 million on this show, I'll be even on research expenses. I find it as complicated and engaging a special world as any I've ever encountered, not only in what happens in the clubhouse and the grandstand, but also on the backside of the track, where the training is done and where they house the horses."

The show has not been cast yet but the lead character will be named Ace Bernstein, whom Milch described to Variety as "a guy versed in all the permutations of finance, elicit and otherwise. When he is released from jail for securities violations, he resumes his place at the race track, where he is a figure of long-standing repute."